City of Anaheim v. Pacific Bell Telephone Co.

Plaintiff City of Anaheim appeals from a judgment entered in favor of defendant Pacific Bell Telephone Company. The court sustained defendant’s demurrer to the complaint without leave to amend on the ground it lacked subject matter jurisdiction because exclusive jurisdiction rests with the California Public Utilities Commission (PUC). Plaintiff contends the superior court has concurrent jurisdiction to adjudicate which of the parties must bear the cost of relocating defendant’s overhead facilities underground.

We issued an opinion holding that the PUC had exclusive jurisdiction over the controversy because it concerned a matter of statewide importance which the PUC continued to regulate. The California Supreme Court granted review but deferred further action pending its determination of a related issue in People ex rel. Orloff v. Pacific Bell (2003) 31 Cal.4th 1132 [ 7 Cal.Rptr.3d 315 , 80 P.3d 201 ] (Orloff). Thereafter it transferred this matter back to us to vacate our prior opinion for reconsideration in light of that decision. Having reviewed the case in the context of Orloff, we again conclude the trial court correctly sustained the demurrer without leave to amend…